Import duties request to pay after delivery

amiga1

I’ve recently ordered a book/record set from a company in Germany. The price was approximately 150€. FedEx delivered the parcel last week but didn’t ask for any import duties, etc up front. Now they’ve billed me £42. Is this correct? I thought you had the right not to pay and have the parcel returned to sender? 

For the record I was never going to refuse to pay the duties but I’ve never been hit after a delivery either. 

jon81uk

Many couriers bill you for duty after delivery. I've had it from DHL before too.
You don't have the right not to pay as the courier has already paid HMRC, you need to pay the courier and if you don't agree with the amount claim it from HMRC.

amiga1

jon81uk said:

Many couriers bill you for duty after delivery. I've had it from DHL before too.
You don't have the right not to pay as the courier has already paid HMRC, you need to pay the courier and if you don't agree with the amount claim it from HMRC.

Martin Lewis: “ If you're hit with unexpected extra charges, you've a number of options. Firstly, you can of course just say you won't pay the extra charges, and not take the item. However, this can be risky. HMRC says if you refuse to pay, the courier firm will usually hold your item for three weeks, but if you don't pay the charges in this period your item will either be returned to the sender or destroyed.”

So you can refuse but it’s risky. 

deannagone

Thing is, its already been delivered so those options aren't really open to the OP. Ooops and the post goes back to June lol.